Suzanne Stanwyck reached out to Jason Morgan for help after there had been several attempts to kidnap and disfigure Brenda Barrett. Suzanne explained that Jason's name had been listed as Brenda's emergency contact. Jason flew to Italy, where his ex-wife, Brenda Barrett, had been named the new Face of Cartullo, a fashion house. Brenda's modeling career had merely been a tool to garner attention for her true passion, a charity named the Alliance to Save Exploited Children. Suzanne was the director of ASEC. She had grown very close to Brenda during their years of working together for the charity.

Jason quickly realized that Brenda had been targeted by a man named the Balkan. The Balkan was a mysterious international crime lord known for his ruthlessness. Jason decided that he could better protect Brenda in Port Charles, so Brenda reluctantly agreed to return to the United States. Suzanne followed her friend to the small town of Port Charles, but she became concerned when she realized that Brenda had rekindled a romance with Sonny. Against Suzanne's strong objections, Brenda agreed to marry Sonny. Suzanne went to extreme lengths to stop the wedding, including shredding Brenda's wedding dress and flooding the Archer Pavilion, where the wedding had been scheduled to take place.

Sonny and Brenda confronted Suzanne about the acts of sabotage just days before the wedding. Suzanne confessed that she feared that Brenda would be harmed if Brenda married mobster Sonny Corinthos. She tearfully explained that she had acted out of love for Brenda, not malice, so Brenda quickly forgave Suzanne. Afterwards, Suzanne secretly rendezvoused with her husband, Theo Hoffman, in his office at Diane Miller's law firm. Theo, who was actually the Balkan, had infiltrated Port Charles society to get closer to Brenda. Suzanne and Theo had been working together because they both wanted Brenda to answer for the death of their son, Aleksander Janacek.

In 2007, Brenda had shot and killed Aleksander. Brenda and Aleksander had a brief affair, but she had ended things when she had realized that Aleksander was an abusive criminal with strong ties to the mob. Aleksander had stalked Brenda to New York City in an attempt to reconcile, but Brenda had refused to consider it. Brenda had lived in fear of Aleksander, so she had reached out to the New York City police for protection. Young rookie, Dante Falconeri, had been one of the police officers assigned to guard the world-famous supermodel.

During this time Brenda learned that she was pregnant with Aleksander's child. Dante quickly fell in love with Brenda, who only viewed Dante as a friend. One night, during a walk, Aleksander approached the couple. Aleksander grabbed Brenda as he demanded that she talk to him. Dante stepped in and a brief struggle ensued.

Brenda was horrified as it became clear that Aleksander intended to kill Dante, so when Aleksander's gun fell to the ground, Brenda picked it up and then shot Aleksander. Aleksander collapsed to the ground and died. Dante decided to cover up the death to spare Brenda further trauma, so he arranged to dispose of the body in a swamp. Brenda left New York City and Dante Falconeri soon afterwards, but not before Dante signed some custody papers, claiming to be the father of her child and relinquishing all rights to the baby.

During Brenda's wedding to Sonny, it was revealed that Brenda's son had been stillborn. Theo realized that his wife had kept the secret from him, so he confronted Suzanne. Suzanne insisted that she hadn't told him about the baby because she hadn't wanted to add to Theo's grief. Theo accepted the explanation until Brenda, who had been kidnapped by Theo as she prepared to go on her honeymoon with Sonny, confessed that Suzanne had been at her side at the time of the baby's tragic birth. Theo was certain that the baby had lived and that Suzanne had hidden him far away from Theo.

Suzanne denied her husband's angry accusations. She insisted that the baby had been stillborn, but she did concede that she had always resented how Theo had allowed Aleksander to follow in Theo's footsteps. Suzanne admitted that she had hoped better for their son. Theo continued to search for the child but Suzanne lured her husband into a trap and killed him. After Theo's death, Suzanne continued to raise her grandchild but feared that Brenda and Sonny would look for him. Suzanne pretended to come clean with Brenda and presented her with a child named Lucian that she claimed was Brenda's son.

Sonny quickly saw through Suzanne's ruse after he demanded a DNA test and Lucian was kidnapped immediately afterwards. Sonny tracked Suzanne down in San Antonio and found her with Brenda's real son Alec. Brenda was reunited with her son and Suzanne was taken into police custody.